Metal sheet



June 7, 1966 u. BENDER 3,254,968

METAL SHEET Original Filed July 19, 1965 2/ /0 iig ULRICH BEA/DER INVENTOR A ORNEY United States PatentO 3,254,968 METAL SHEET Ulrich Bender, Geisweid, Germany, assignor to Designers Metal Company, a Division of Pentron Electronics Corporation, Hammond, Ind., a corporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 296,404, July 19,

1963. This application Dec. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 425,375 1 Claim. (Cl. 29-183) This is a continuation -of application Serial No. 296,404, tiled July 19, 1963, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a metal sheet and, more particularly, to an ornamental sheet carrying apertures which is useful in Ibuilding construction and other purposes.

It is common to form ornamental metal sheet by piercing the sheet with slits and then stretching the sheet transversely of the -slits to form openings. For the most part, these openings between neighbor-ing strips of metal are in the form of a rhombus or a paralleiograim. Furthermore, due to the nature of the formation of the sheet, four strips always come together to form a junction. Metal sheets have also Ibeen known in which the openings are rectangular and are located side by side so that the 4junctions are positioned between the adjacent rows of strip to form a straight line. These types of metal sheets can be used only in a small number of forms for ornamental and structural purposes. On the other hand, because the distance `between the individual strips in relation to their width is so great and because the junctions are quite a distance apart and line up only in certain lengthwi-se and transverse lines, the net effect is that there are a comparatively large number of rough and -sharpedges on the surface which prevent the use of -this type of metal s-heet for useful ornamentation because of the danger of injury or tearing of-clotheS. By reducing the size of the openings, the rough surface could be reduced to a certain degree, but there is still a roughness on the surface because the junction points line up lengthwise and transversely orf the sheet. These and other diiculties experienced with the prior art constructions have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a metal sheet which does not have the disadvantage of roughness of surface and, therefore, may be useful in ornamentation of buildings and the like.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a metal sheet of considerable strength-to-weight ratio.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a metal sheet of extremely pleasant appearance.

A lfurther object of the p-resent invention is the provision of a metal sheet having a high degree of stiifness.

With these and `other objects in view, as will be apparent -to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specication and covered yby the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as

. illustrated 'by the accompanying drawings in which:

The single figure shows an enlarged view of a portion of a metal sheet embodying the principles of the present invention.

In order to accomplish the objects of this invention, the metal sheet consists -in general of an arrangement in which the junctions are arranged in the direction of the length olf the sheet in the form of sine wave lines. By doing this, the junctions between the individual strips are located yat such a displaced position with respect to each other that within a small area quite a large number of junctions in the plane of the sheet overlap one another and thereby forma line mesh surface without sharp distinct edges. T-he evenness of the surface of this metal sheet in this design comes about also because of the fact 3,254,968 Patented June 7, 1966 that the junctions are provided with iimpressed ribs constituting extensions lof the strips. Furthermore, there is a prac-tical advantage in forming the strips in an elevation other than the junctions, in giving them a direction extending transversely to the wave-shaped path of the junctions, and in providing them with a sharp distinctive crest and a broad wave trough. Metal sheets of especially high stability are formed by providing the sheet with uncut zones in the -form of stripes which are more or less regullarly spaced and in which the strips lare indicated by impressed grooves. It is advantageous that these uncut zones cross the sine wave path of the junctions either in t-he crests of the sine wave, 4or in their troughs. It is also advantageous to reduce gradually the width of the openings :between the strips as one progresses to areas more closely adjacent to the uncut zones. The roughness of the surface :of the met-al sheet is reduced by providing that the openings and the strips between them extend at symmetrical angles to one another on opposite Hanks of a sine wave. i

Referring to the drawing, the `metal sheet, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is made in the usual way from a thin metal sheet. In the preferred embodiment, the sheet is aluminum, but it could be steel, or other metals. r[lhe sheet is :formed with penetrating cuts 111 each having a pre-determined length and with the cuts larranged in a pre-determined manner. The sheet is then stretched so that openings 13 between the remaining strips 12 are created. The cuts 11 (which penetrate the sheet lmetal completely) Iare arranged in adjacent rows a1, a2, w3, a4, a5, .and so forth; the ends of the cuts terminate a suitable distance from one another so lthat ybetween the neighboring rows of cuts .are provided uncut zones bi1, b2, b3, b4, and so forth. Itis in these uncut zones that the individual strips L2 lform the junctions 14 and the material of the sheet remains connected.

As can be seen Ifrom the drawing, the cuts 11 in the sheet are arranged in such a manner that the roiws al1 -to a5 and the uncut zones b1 to b4, which lie between the rows of cuts and which make possible the forming of the junctions 14 are varranged in the form of la sine Iwave path. The uncut zones b1 to b4 between the adjacent rows of cuts a1 to a5 are, as can be seen in the drawing, provided with impressioned grooves 15 so that, Iin .the uncut zones b1 to b4, ribs 16 are formed which indicate tvisually the passage ofthe strips 12 from one adjacent lrow of cuts to the other. Furthermore, the drawing shows that the junctions 14 off the individual strips lie in a different plane from the ribs' which are created by the impressioned grooves 15. This .results in a metal sheet in which the strips 12 extend transversely to the sine wave path of the junctions 14 and are formed in the wave lines with sharp crests 17 and broad wave troughs 18.

At more or 'less regular spacing, the metal sheet contains uncut stripes 19 on which the strips 1=2 are also indicated by impressed grooves. The path of these uncut stripes .19 crosses the sine wave path of the junctions 14 in the wave crests 20 and in the wave troughs 21.

The openings 13 which are located between the strips 12 are reduced in ywidth `as one progresses Ifrom the center of the flanks of the wave path of the junctions 14 (uncut zones b1 to b4); in other words, as the openings l13- are closer to either the crests 20 of the sine fwave or closer to the troughs 211, they are reduced in size, `as is evident in the drawing. Furthermore, the strips I12. and the openings 1'3 on the same wave extend in exactly opposite angles to the flanks on either side of a crest 20; that is Ito say, they extend ait equal angles to a longitudinal line (tor instance, the line of la stripe 19) but .at opposite sides of 1.1, butin ythe junction `zones b1 to b4 which are positioned between them, the Wave runs are broad. Furthermore, the cuts are relatively long in the zones a1 to a5 so that this results in a coarse mesh. Naturally, it ialso ispossible to make rows of cuts with much flatter sine Waves and to make the cuts 111 shorter and arrange them closer `together so that .a fine mesh metall sheet is created with a ne ribbed or tine lin-k-tformed surface. v

It can be seen lthat the construction in the manner described above' results in a metal sheet which is extremely stii and cannot be bent, particularly inthe transverse direction, without diculty. The strength-to-(Weight -ratio is very high land yet thesurface has a dine ornamental configuration which -is not rough and which will not injure or tear ,the clothing of a person who rubs against it.

It is obviousthat minor changes may be made in `the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown yand described, but is desired to include all such 20 as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been described, what is claimed ,as new .and desired to secure `by Letters Patent is:

Metal sheet, comprising a body having .a series of parallel scores extending in one di-rection, a series ott ridges in the Ifonm of sine waves extending parallel to each other and transversely of the scores, the scores being formed into openings located on the ridges, the openings on a particuv lar ridge being loca-ted in groups, -the groups being located only on the portions off the sine Waves'between the peaks and valleys.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,369,128 2/ 1945 Bartsch 29-4180 2,891,303 6/1959 Stevenson 29-183 3,049,796 8/ 1962 Pall 29--1835 3,155,460 11/1964 Mears 29-183.5

DAVID L. RECK, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD DEAN, Assistant Examiner. 

